enfant
by Freydris
Summary: Ludwig gives his mother a wry smile. Unsettling the situation was, it's still (somewhat) amusing. "Mother," He begins patiently, closing his book, "Which one of them is my father?" The whole guild stills in anticipation. His mother, Lucy Heartfilia, bursts out into tears. Lucy/?
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing but the original characters and some of the concept. A rewrite of Achieving Family.

* * *

**enfant**

* * *

Magnolia is a big town, Ludwig surmises silently as his hand is clutched in a deathly grip. His mother is afraid she will lose him in the crowd of busy bodies—it has happened before—so she holds his hand tightly, pressing his face to her hips like she's afraid what he will see will frighten him. There are shouts and calls and chattering from the people all around, and while usually Ludwig is not very tolerant of noise and disorganization, these little things fascinate him.

"Keep close to me, darling." His mother tells him for what seems like the hundredth time in a single hour, squeezing his digits into her own fingers, her knuckles white.

Ludwig makes a vague sound of agreement deep in his throat but wrestles with her other hand pressing his face to her coat; he wants to see what's going on around him, if only to satisfy his curiosity. He notes half-heartedly that his mother is nervous—and her hair is blond again, which is just strange because Ludwig is used to the color of earth—because her hands are shaking, but he lets her be.

His eyes catch a hint of magenta, and he stares at this short, fat-chested woman in a frilly, magenta dress, animatedly bartering with a terrified stall owner. She's tiny, he notes with little interest, but it is her hair color that garners his attention. It's a pretty, somewhat reddish tint of silver.

As if feeling his stare, she turns to him distractedly and freezes, as if recognizing him.

Ludwig squints, and faintly realizes that it is not him she's looking at—rather, his mother. He hypothesizes that they must know each other, but this hypothesis is left untested because his mother covers him and sweeps him away like a thief in the night. There is a shriek behind him—the magenta woman gives chase—but the mass of people block her path.

His mother stops by at an inn, orders a single room, and locks herself in the bathroom.

Ludwig dutifully ignores her sobs and busies himself with the data he has gathered, connecting the dots. He brings out a yellowing poster. There is a recent picture of a smiling woman. It is the fat-chested woman from before, and he thinks to himself that Mirajane is a unique name. He flattens the piece of crumbling parchment against the table, eying the mark printed boldly beside her picture.

For a moment he thinks it is a bird, but then the tip looks like a toe, so he reanalyzes the image and decides it is a fairy. Or some sort of twisted replication of one, anyway.

Ludwig smiles a small smile to himself, and decides to look for a town map during their next outing.

The door to the bathroom clicks open, and he straightens, smoothly folding the paper close and storing it into his pocket. He pretends not to notice the tearmarks streaking down his mother's cheeks as she gives him a wobbly smile, and he gives her a sage-like nod in return.

"I'm hungry, Mother." He says, and as if in agreement, her stomach growls. She gives him a motherly smile tinged with embarrassment, taking his hand. "I am too, Ludwig." She agrees unnecessarily, "Oh, but you'll have to suffer a few days without my cooking, until we find an apartment." Lucy Heartfilia's brown eyes adopt a faraway look, almost turning dreamy, "I know just the place."


	2. Chapter 2

**enfant**

* * *

Two days after their sudden arrival in Magnolia, Lucy and Ludwig Heartfilia finally settle down on a two-story building with red walls and a dark sloping roof. Their new residence faces a sparkling canal that stretches as far as the Ludwig's eyes can see, ending on the horizon where it's replaced by the market place. His mother is familiar with the apartment, as she sighs fondly upon unlocking the mahogany door, though she carefully explains to him that her old room is really two doors away. Someone else owns it now.

He doesn't question her judgment, even when it's an expensive place (he estimates about sixty thousand to ninety thousand jewels per month). Ludwig doesn't know how his mother will afford to pay for the rent, let alone their meals and his schooling, but he's somewhat content. He's sick of hotel food. Forty-eight hours of testing, three meals during the first twenty-four hours and two during the next, he has proved that dishes not made by his mother ranked disgustingly low on his list of would-like-to-be-consumed. They were also unnecessarily expensive. On the other hand, he tells himself that he's biased; he believes he's been spoiled by his mother's cooking.

The idea doesn't shame him.

Their apartment room thankfully comes complete. The walls are painted a pretty shade of blue-green, and the floor is tiled a pearly shade of white, occasionally with hyacinth tiles forming a pattern. There are two single beds in separate rooms (one has orange walls and the other has regal red walls), and there is one yellow-tiled bathroom. The kitchen is a bit cramped, but the living room makes up for the space with a big couch, two love-seats, a fireplace and a couple of empty shelves. Mother and son waste no time in filling it with books and magazines. They bond over reopened photo albums and putting up calendars and wall clocks. It's an enjoyable experience.

"Ludwig, I'll be out for a while, honey." Lucy says in a flurry of movements: slipping on her sandals, combing her still wet hair, and checking her considerably less fat wallet. No doubt the landlady demanded for some down payment.

She's already half-way out of the door when Ludwig emerges from the kitchen, brandishing a hazelnut sandwich and a goodbye kiss for her cheeks. She gives him her customary warnings—"Don't open the door to strangers, even when they offer free books." Lucy says seriously, because he's done it a few years back—before she leaves, promising to return in a few hours, hopefully with ingredients for dinner. Ludwig waves until she's out of sight, and he shuts the door and buries himself in books. He's hoping they are able to put up a television set (he was an optical learner as well as a verbal one) soon, but he knows it will add a rather heavy sum to their electricity bill.

He reads three books in two hours before he gets bored and sick of them. He has read and studied all of them already. The proof is the million sticky-notes with observations and charts pinned against the yellowing pages, and he finds himself craving for some new tomes to leaf through. Books, however, are high-priced nowadays, and his earnings will only get him perhaps three or four low quality secondhand textbooks.

Restlessly, he leans back on the couch and finishes the last of his (amazing) sandwich, his dark eyes stormy. His gaze wanders over to the small wooden chest his mother keeps locked at all times, perched innocently above a shelf, and the urge to peek inside overwhelms him.

He has opened it before, not that Lucy knew of it. The chest contains keys. Magic keys.

His mother never talks to him about her past, but he knows of her being a Celestial Mage at one point in her youth, despite the fact that he has never seen her spirits. Of course, there is still a very important hint: the guild mark on the back of her hand. She is affiliated with a powerful guild in the kingdom of Fiore, the guild of Fairy Tail. Or, the proper auxiliary verb would be, was, anyway.

Lucy explained to him that after finding out about his existence in her uterus, she decided to leave her home. He connected the dots and finished what was left unsaid. Obviously, he gets the correct conclusion that she left without warning. Ludwig isn't an idiot; he has seen the missing posters of her around their old town, and now, Magnolia. Perhaps not as frequently as before, but the point stands.

Apparently, his mother gave up magic because of him.

Ludwig was born magically-sensitive. He almost died as a baby after his mother attempted to summon a weak spirit. His mother never took another chance; the proof is the locked chest and the random pulses of powerful magic coming from said chest: the keys trying to summon themselves in confusion to the sudden absence of their summoner.

But back to books.

With an angry sigh, he ignores the pang of envy in his chest when the thought of other more fortunate children enters his mind. Instead, he picks up a pen and begins calculating, his mind working furiously. Having nothing to do, he draws up an approximated list of their monthly expenses and begins planning for the inevitable future.

Whatever focus he plans to use to his advantage is instantly gone with the wind when the sound of something slamming disturbs the peace. Ludwig breathes out an annoyed sigh and tries to get his mind back on track, but there is a particularly loud squeal from the neighbors, and his line of thought disappears immediately. He frowns and hops off the couch, storming outside their apartment to see what was the matter.

He pauses and listens for a moment. A loud thud follows, and then a pained groan, and then the rustling of clothes. His brown eyes fall on the room two doors away from his. He hesitates only for a split second before he marches towards it and knocks.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _"Hello?"

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _"Excuse me, is anyone home?"

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

The door opens, and a flustered blue-haired lady pokes her head out, looking quite harried. She looks around her in confusion, before Ludwig clears his throat and she looks down in surprise. "Oh," She gasped, fixing the front of her shirt. Her cheeks flush a bright red, and Ludwig thinks she might have a fever. "Hello, little boy." She greets softly, squatting down to his level.

"What the 'ell, woman?" A gruff voice groans from somewhere behind her, but she hurriedly shushes the male. She turns to him again, this time smiling, "I've never seen you around before. Did you just move in?" She asks sweetly.

"Yes." He answers shortly, narrowing his eyes. "With my mother." He doesn't dilly-dally, because that is not his thing. "Is everything alright?" He asks smoothly, adding in a touch of polite worry in his voice, "I can hear you from two doors away, miss."

Without her permission, he peers over her shoulder and meets the gaze of a tall, heavily pierced man with long dark spiky hair. So much metal on the body could not be healthy, he thinks to himself primly, but then perhaps the man has magic regulating the non-hygienic aspects of his preferred way of expressing himself.

The man has a steely look, which Ludwig thinks is somewhat befitting.

"Do you need any help, miss?" He hears himself asking, deducing that perhaps the blue-haired girl and the pierced man are in a romantic relationship. His mother, however, taught him not to assume.

The woman smiles in poorly-hidden embarrassment, "Oh no. Not at all." She reassures him, shifting down to a kneel. Her man scoffs rather rudely. Ludwig tries not to dwell on it. "My boyfriend and I are fine." She says, furrowing her eyebrows, "Did we disturb you?" She squeaks, mortified.

As she should be. Caught noisily engaging in the first stages of coitus is hardly a good first impression.

He waves his hand dismissively, faking a nonchalant look, "Not at all." He lies, and he hears the man inhale impatiently, shifting. The big man freezes from the corner of Ludwig's eyes, but he pays him no heed. "Seeing as everything is satisfactory, I will simply request you and your partner to lower and control the volume of your physical activities. Thank you, and good day."

She smiles, rubbing the back of her neck, looking like she didn't understand a word he said, "You too, little guy. Sorry about that again, ah," She clears her throat, rubbing her pink face, "If you ever need help, you can come to me or my boyfriend." She glances at her stone-faced partner and frowns, "I'm Levy McGarden, and he's Gajeel Redfox."

"Ludwig." He replies quietly, bobbing his head. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am. Thank you for your kind offer."

"Hey kid." The man starts roughly as the blond turns to leave. His words are short and slightly demeaning, but Ludwig acknowledges the superiority and the dominance of this person. He is clearly powerful, and Ludwig knows how to pick his enemies. This man, while a threat, is not a foe. "Who's your mother?" The older male asks.

Alarm bells ring in Ludwig's mind, as they always do whenever his mother—more importantly, his mother's safety—is involved. He narrows his eyes but says nothing, as Miss Levy stands up and scolds her boyfriend. "Gajeel!" She squeaks, rather adorably, and not the least bit of intimidating. Her efforts are futile, and internally he scoffs at her.

Steel man—Gajeel, he reminds himself—shuts his girlfriend up with a finger to her lips and a twitch of his eyebrow. His dark eyes meet Ludwig's own.

Ludwig examines him carefully, and he doesn't miss the mark of a dancing fairy on not only the man, but also the woman. His mother has the same mark, and so did the woman from the market place. He silently makes his conclusions, eyes dull.

The man recognizes him and is trying to identify his parentage. Ludwig thinks of his mother, and decides he can be selfish, for once. Not for himself, but for his dear mother.

Obviously, the only way to do that is to reconcile her with her former colleagues.

"My mother is Lucy." He answers lowly, taking note of how Miss Levy suddenly inhaled sharply, paling. "My name is Ludwig Heartfilia."


End file.
